NEW DELHI, 8 June — Elections will be held on July 15 to choose the country's next president and the results will be known three days later, officials said yesterday. The post is largely ceremonial and incumbents are elected by a college of lawmakers. The president's job, similar to that of the British monarch in a Westminster-style parliamentary system, has become more significant over the past decade in view of the pivotal role a president can play in the formation of coalitions. President K.R. Narayanan's five-year term ends on July 24. Announcing the elections schedule, Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh said the counting of votes would begin July 18. The next president will begin his term July 25. The last date for filing nominations is June 25 and they would be scrutinized the next day. Lyngdoh said the last date for withdrawing from the fray would be June 28. While Narayanan is eligible for re-election, the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has rejected demands from some political parties to give him another term. Narayanan, a former diplomat and journalist, and belongs to the main opposition Congress party. Media reports say the coalition is inclined to back current Vice President Krishna Kant, or P.C. Alexander, a retired civil servant who is now the governor of Maharashtra state. The president is chosen by an electoral college that consists of elected members of the upper and lower houses of the Parliament and provincial assemblies. With the announcement, the race for the top post hots up even as no clear winner has emerged over several months of conjecture and political negotiations. After Narayanan reportedly decided not to seek a second five-year term, Krishan Kant's prospects have grown stronger. Narayanan's reported decision has come a week after Vajpayee told him that the country's multiparty ruling coalition would not support his bid for a second term. However, alternative names thrown up by the BJP have not found favor with the Congress. In view of the border tensions with Pakistan that have brought the two to the brink of war, political parties appear keen to want a consensus on the choice of president, who is also the commander in chief of the armed forces.